ABSTRACT
The primary role of minerals in foods is to provide a reliable source of essential nutrients in a balanced and bioavailable form. Major minerals include calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, sodium, potassium, and chloride. The solubilities of mineral complexes and chelates may be very different from the solubilities of inorganic salts. The Lewis acid/base concept is a key to understanding the chemistry of minerals in foods because metal cations are Lewis acids and they bind to Lewis bases. In the case of mineral nutrients, bioavailability is determined primarily by the efficiency of absorption from the intestinal lumen into the blood. One of the most important factors is solubility of the mineral in the contents of the small intestine since insoluble compounds cannot diffuse to the brush border membranes of enterocytes and consequently cannot be absorbed. Essential mineral nutrients grouped according to speciation in foods, bioavailabilities, and occurrence of deficiencies in human populations.
